Chapter 49

I felt really tired Saturday morning. It was a little bit of sleep deprivation and a little physical exertion. No not Ed, I had been to the Gym to work off some of the week's indulgences before the dinner party. It looked as though all of it together had caught up with me.

Ed and his wife were the first to leave. I would have followed shortly thereafter, if it hadn't been my house. Even though I left the mess for the maid, I still had to stay awake until the last of the guests left. One couple really seemed to enjoy themselves, so much so that they fell asleep on my sofa. I let them sleep until their spouses were ready to leave. I even let the spouses wake them.

Oh yes, I did have a maid who came in only on Saturdays. What was the use working my butt off, if I couldn't enjoy the money I made. It wasn't like I wanted to leave anything to anyone. I planned to spend every dime before I left the earth.

The shower at 9AM helped me make some progress toward normalcy but the three cups of coffee did more. I debated whether to wear jeans, but decided a dress would be a better plan. Odds were at least one of the participants would have a photographer present. Politicians and Marty had that in common, they all like publicity.

I kind of expected that the Reverend could do without it, but he had better get used to it. If he wanted to play in Tommy Thompson's game, there was going to be a price to pay. That price was to allow Tommy to squeeze the Reverend for all the photo ops possible.

The meeting was at noon, only because Tommy had to get from the state capitol to Aster. Marty didn't know Tommy would be at the meeting, and I felt no need to tell him. Marty in general did not like politicians‭; I couldn't say that I blamed him, since they killed the cigarette industry. It was cigarettes that had made Marty rich. The kids got the farm, but the price for tobacco took a big hit, so it was worth a lot less than they had expected. Even with the giant export business, the prices continued to fall.

Since Max bought the minivan, I reinvested the money in a BMW. I would have gotten a Mercedes, except that I didn't want to look too prosperous. A hungry lawyer is a good lawyer, was still believed by far too many people.

When I got to the parking lot of my office, I found Max waiting for me. It was too chilly for her to be sitting on the outside bench, so she was in the van looking out at me.

"‏Hey girl, what you doing here so early, ‭" I asked.

"‏I have a meeting at 1pm with some guy who thinks he needs a female body guard for some reason. I have no idea why he called me. I never tell anyone that I am a body guard, ‭" Maxine said.

"‏Hell Max, seems like you or I are in the paper every week. People call me now wanting to know how to get in touch with you. Ginger says we are going to have to charge you for her time, ‭" I suggested.

"‏My ass, just hang up on them, most of them just want to tell me that they think a woman should be home cooking for her man, not out playing with guns. Even when I agree with them, they still aren't satisfied. What's a girl to do‭?" Max asked.

"‏Hell Max, get their address and we can do a drive by shooting.‭" I said.

"‏Sounds like a plan Jen. See that's why I let you hang around with me. You come up with a good idea now and then, ‭" Max suggested.

"‏You let me hang around with you. Damn you are delusional.‭" I replied laughing.

When Maxine got out of the van, she had two brown bags in her hand.‭ "‬What do you have there‭?" I asked.

"‏I passed a construction site. Helen had her van there doing breakfast. She has a big deal wedding at six tonight but she still had time to do a breakfast run. That woman is going to work herself to death.‭" Max suggested.

"‏It's all your fault.‭" I replied.

"‏How the fuck is it my fault‭?" Max asked.

"‏You brought that mangy dog into her life. The dog brought that dog trainer into her life, and now she wants to get rich. She fixed dinner for eight at my house last night, and did a brown bag breakfast run. She is going have a breakdown.‭" I said.

"‏Nah, Skeeter will keep her sane. That dog is like a bottle of Valium with fur.‭" Max said.

"‏Come on, you both are crazy where that dog is concerned.‭" I said.

"‏Think what you will, ‭" Max said following me into the office.‭ "‬Want me to make coffee‭; I doubt that you know how.‭"

"Hey this was a one woman office for years. ‏I know how to make coffee‭; I just don't do it anymore. Now if you want coffee, feel free to make it. I'm going to have a diet coke and enjoy my breakfast.‭"

Max did make coffee and it was a good thing. It was a hit with the others who arrived. It was also a good thing that I had a fresh supply of Styrofoam cups. Everyone showed up, which surprised me.

It took only seconds to deliver my little speech. I got Maxine to sign the receipt, then sign the check over to the Reverend. I knew there would be photographers, but I had no idea how many there would be. Tommy had his man of course, then Marty had the TV producer types, and the Reverend even had Aster's weekly news paper covering the event. Max posed with each of them and kept her sense of humor. I was surprised she didn't bitch slap at least one of the photographers.

"‏Max, are you coming to the mission tomorrow‭?" the Reverend asked. Well that told me Maxine hadn't seen too much of him lately.

"‏I really don't know Reverend Archer, I'm not really good at that kind of thing. I have an appointment in a while that might have me out of town for a few days. If you see me, I'm there. If not, I'm somewhere else, ‭" she said smiling her disgustingly sweet smile. The smile that everyone hated, by the way. The people who knew her, knew that it was a lie. It wasn't a fake smile, the smile was real‭; the myth that Max could be sweet was a monumental lie. Max had the heart of a pure bitch, even if she was trying to save the world suddenly. It didn't matter that she could fool the others, I knew the truth. My Maxine was not capable of being reigned in, she was forever wild.